Serena Williams, David Ferrer into French Open fourth round

HIGHLIGHTS

Serena Williams on track to win her second consecutive French Open title

Williams to face Ivanovic-slayer Svitolina in the next round

HIGHLIGHTS

Serena Williams on track to win her second consecutive French Open title

Williams to face Ivanovic-slayer Svitolina in the next round

Defending champion Serena Williams needed five match points after waiting out a rain delay of more than 2 1/2 hours, but she eventually moved into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (10) victory over 26th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France.'BROUGHT OUT MY BEST TENNIS'

Defending champion Serena Williams needed five match points after waiting out a rain delay of more than 2 1/2 hours, but she eventually moved into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (10) victory over 26th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France.

'BROUGHT OUT MY BEST TENNIS'

In a tight, well-played match at Court Philippe Chatrier, action was suspended Saturday when a thunderstorm arrived right before Williams and Mladenovic began the second-set tiebreaker.

Once they resumed, Williams erased one set point for Mladenovic at 9-8 with a swinging forehand volley winner. Four times, Williams was a point from victory in the tiebreaker - at 6-5, 7-6, 8-7 and 10-9 - and couldn't close it out. But on the fifth opportunity for Williams, Mladenovic pushed a forehand wide to end the match.

"She played really, really well and forced me to bring out my best tennis," Williams said. "I'm happy I got through that."

Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, called the tiebreaker "the only moment that I think was her good tennis."

"Serena was really aggressive, went for her shots and took risks," he said. "That's her game."WILLIAMS EYES CONSECUTIVE TITLES

Williams, the No. 1 seed, is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive titles at Roland Garros since Henin took three in a row from 2005-07.

The 13th-seeded Thiem equaled his best result at a major tournament after reaching the round of 16 at the U.S. Open in 2014. It was the third time that Thiem and Zverev faced each other in four weeks, with Thiem extending his winning record to 3-0.

Thiem's next opponent will be Marcel Granollers, who advanced without playing thanks to Rafael Nadal's withdrawal with a wrist injury.

Former French Open runner-up David Ferrer also reached the fourth round, for a sixth consecutive year.

The 11th-seeded Ferrer came out on top from an all-Spanish match with Feliciano Lopez, winning 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-1. He'll next face either seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych or Pablo Cuevas.

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